Chapter 955: White Lotus Killing Sword (1)

A sword. A silver-white sword had been hidden in the stone pillar. It was magnificent. It radiated a sacred aura, like a piece of art. The silvery glow it emitted rippled outward in waves, as if it was alive. It formed translucent, delicate lotus petals that gently floated in the air.

It was a fine sword. A sword that even carried faint traces of imperial presence. Li Xiaofei burst out laughing and said, “When I touched the stone pillar earlier, I vaguely sensed the aura of a sword. As expected, a sword was hidden here. Haha, what a fine sword this is. I feel like it is destined for me...”

As he spoke, he turned his head to look at Liu Shaji. But the moment he looked, Li Xiaofei froze. Liu Shaji was standing still, his body trembling slightly. Tears had welled up in his eyes.

That rascal... why is he crying?

“Eh? If you like it, it can be yours too. A real man shouldn’t be crying over a sword...” Li Xiaofei tried to comfort him.

“Old friend.” Liu Shaji spoke slowly.

Clang.

The silver sword let out a crisp chime, as if answering Liu Shaji. It was like a maiden responding to the call of her beloved. The sword rose into the air and slowly floated toward Liu Shaji. His hand trembled. The merciless iron hand that had once slaughtered thousands was now shaking ever so slightly.

Li Xiaofei quickly understood what was happening. This sword must have been of vital importance to Liu Shaji. Every time Liu Shaji had fought in the past, his sword qi had soared into the sky. The sword light would always take the form of white lotus flowers. And this sword, too; its glowing sword qi transformed into lotus shapes as well.

“The White Lotus Killing Sword,” Liu Shaji said softly. “My old companion, I’ve finally found you.”

He grasped the sword. The excitement and elation in his expression slowly gave way to calm.

“This is my Dao-proving treasure,” he said as he turned to Li Xiaofei. “It’s also the last remaining inheritance of my former sect in this world. Of the once-great White Lotus Sword Sect, only I and this sword remain.”

It was a history buried deep in time. The White Lotus Sword Sect had been annihilated, and Liu Shaji was the sole surviving disciple. He had wandered the world carrying the sacred artifact of his sect, the White Lotus Killing Sword, seeking a chance for revenge. But the enemy’s strength had far exceeded anything he could handle.

Even though he had been the most talented cultivator in the sect’s history and pushed its sword techniques to the pinnacle, he had been unable to avenge his sect for a long, long time.

Until he had encountered Ye Qingyu. Then, finally, he had succeeded in taking revenge. Later, when the Reapers invaded the human star systems, Liu Shaji had unhesitatingly joined the war.

He had fought until the end, laying down his life for the cause. The White Lotus Killing Sword had vanished alongside him. It was said that the Reapers had taken it as a trophy, hiding it away among their spoils of war.

This time, when Liu Shaji ventured into the ancestral star system of the Reapers, his goal was not just to regain strength through battle. Deep down, Liu Shaji had also hoped to recover the White Lotus Killing Sword.

But he had never imagined that what he had searched for so long would appear before him so effortlessly. The sacred sword that meant everything to him had been hidden right here.

“Could it be that back then, Sword Immortal Lin Beichen had found this sword just for you and deliberately left it within the Fire Domain, waiting for your return to claim it?” Li Xiaofei muttered, feeling a sense of awe rise within him. “Can Senior Sword Immortal Lin truly see the future?”

Foreseeing the future, is that really something within a Sword Immortal’s domain?

“It must be,” Liu Shaji said with absolute certainty. “Lin Beichen cultivated the Silver Sword and was known as the Sword Immortal, but in truth, his martial arts system was vast and boundless. He had mastered twenty-four divine laws, one of which governed time. So, being able to foresee the future isn’t surprising at all.”

He paused for a moment, then continued, “Sword Immortal Lin Beichen was an unparalleled prodigy of the human race, standing at the very peak of martial cultivation. He never did anything without purpose. If he entered the Ancestor Court star system, he must have had his reasons. Finding the White Lotus Killing Sword was likely just a side task. What he was truly after must have been something far more significant.”

It wasn’t hard to see that even someone as unruly and unrestrained as Liu Shaji deeply admired the Sword Immortal Lin Beichen. Li Xiaofei felt the same. The more they learned about the history of the war between humanity and the Reapers, the more they understood the greatness of humanity’s five pillars of strength.

Without the Five Immortal Emperors, the fate of the human race might have been no different from those other races that had been trampled upon and erased by the Reapers. They would have been reduced to nothing more than fragments of DNA in Reaper experiments, lost forever in the current of history.

Liu Shaji began to re-refine the White Lotus Killing Sword. It was as if he had become younger. His entire demeanor grew brighter, and there was even a faint sense of youthfulness about him.

The two of them searched the area thoroughly once again, but they found nothing else. They returned to the open area near the entrance of the cave residence.

Zhu Zhixun and the others were still asleep. Their expressions were peaceful, as if they were having sweet dreams. Li Xiaofei thought for a moment, then decided to bring them into the Secret Time Pavilion so they could rest properly.

Even a cup of year-old tea in that place contained profound law-infused spiritual energy that Zhu Zhixun and the others could not easily endure. It would take them a long time to refine it and awaken from their slumber. By placing them in the Secret Time Pavilion, not only would they be safe, but the altered flow of time would also help them recover more quickly.

“What now?” Liu Shaji asked. Having regained the White Lotus Killing Sword, he suddenly seemed far more committed. “Should we go straight to the other three suspected formations?”

Li Xiaofei rubbed his forehead and asked, “Do you even know where the other three are?”

“Uh...” Liu Shaji muttered. “Then we’ll just have to wait here for them to wake up? If I’d known earlier, I would’ve asked the five little tough guys about the other locations before they drank that aged tea.”

“The five little tough guys?” Li Xiaofei raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, those five,” Liu Shaji replied. “With how weak they are, it’s a miracle they made it this far unscathed. If they’re not little tough guys, then what are they?”

“You even know about that?”

“Of course I do. I’ve been to Earth with Old Ye before. Who hasn’t watched Saint Seiya? Five little bronze saints managing to fight their way to the gods. Old Ye used to say that these cockroach-like underdogs should always be called ‘Xiao Qiang’.”

“Tsk, tsk... when you put it that way, it actually makes sense,” Li Xiaofei agreed with a nod.

Zhu Zhixun and the others really were brimming with Fate Qi. Given their strength, status, and position, under normal circumstances, they shouldn’t have even had a chance to enter the Holy Ruins. And yet, they had somehow made it all the way to an eighth-tier danger zone. They were still alive and kicking, while gaining opportunities all along the way.

Damn it. They are practically walking around with a protagonist’s script.

Li Xiaofei thought for a moment and said, “This place is a safe space created by Senior Sword Immortal Lin Beichen. It’s filled with sword intent, which is beneficial for my cultivation. Before Brother Xun and the others wake up, I plan to remain here and cultivate, integrating everything I’ve gained over the past few days.”

Liu Shaji considered it and replied, “Alright then. You stay here and enter seclusion. I’ll head out for some fun.”

“Hm?” Li Xiaofei raised a brow. “What kind of fun?”

Liu Shaji grinned and said, “I’ll look for a few strong Reapers to kill and maybe do a little robbing along the way... at the very least, stir up some trouble for them.”

Li Xiaofei said, “The Fire Domain is extremely dangerous. Don’t get yourself killed playing around.”

Liu Shaji was full of enthusiasm and confidence. “Are you kidding me? Now that I’ve reclaimed the White Lotus Killing Sword, I’m an unstoppable killing god again. What do I have to be afraid of?”

He strode off, brimming with confidence. Li Xiaofei didn’t stop him. Since his rebirth, Liu Shaji needed to engage in battle to fully restore the strength buried within him and regain his former peak.

The fact that Sword Immortal Lin Beichen had deliberately left the White Lotus Killing Sword here clearly indicated that he had foreseen something and made preparations accordingly.

If Liu Shaji was right, and Lin Beichen truly possessed the ability to see the future, then perhaps he had already foreseen everything happening now hundreds of years ago.

Which meant that the barbecue tools at the Burial Ice Cliff, the sword techniques, the Enlightenment Tea, the Enlightenment Tree, and the White Lotus Killing Sword had been meticulously prepared by Sword Immortal Lin Beichen.